"The project will approach the local community to do an inventory of the intangible cultural heritage in the city, it will be a community-led project," Chiba said.

By involving the local community in the creation of the inventory, Chiba said it allows them to "tell their own stories and focus on what the local people consider as important".

Later on, Unesco will look at ways to develop local industries in world heritage sites

This will come under the second pilot project, which aims to benefit the local livelihood of industries within the heritage zone.

"We are starting this project that seeks to bring in all these related parties, museums, creative centres, local artisans, heritage practitioners, and site managers together to develop an action plan for a better livelihood in heritage cities," Chiba explained.

She added, "What we want is some coherence between the industries within the heritage zone, because we noticed in some sites, not necessarily in George Town, where the local industries and artisans do not cooperate with the site managers."

Chiba explained that this led to instances where souvenir shops sold cheap toys and souvenirs that were unrelated to the heritage site.﻿

Additionally, George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) plans to make the city a "centre of excellence in heritage" encompassing various disciplines

GTWHI is the organisation tasked by the Penang government to protect, promote, and preserve the heritage site.

Malay Mail reported that GTWHI general manager Ang Ming Chee said, "We need to create this centre of excellence in these disciplines where experts from other countries can come here to share and exchange expertise."